March 2019
In addition to the quandary of ongoing housing price increases and affordability
concerns in many U.S. markets, the first quarter of 2019 saw a fair share of adverse
weather as well. Sales totals were mixed across the nation and sometimes
dependent on what was a persistent wintry mix, especially in the Great Plains,
Midwest and Northeast. Meanwhile, new listings and total homes for sale have been
trending lower in year-over-year comparisons in many areas, and last year's marks
were already quite low.
New Listings were up 4.8 percent to 1,713. Pending Sales increased 9.4 percent to
1,499. Inventory grew 6.1 percent to 3,279 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 3.0 percent to $172,000. Days
on Market decreased 12.1 percent to 58 days. Months Supply of Inventory was
down 3.4 percent to 2.8 months, indicating that demand increased relative to
supply.
The Federal Reserve recently announced that no further interest rate hikes are
planned for 2019. Given the fact that the federal funds rate has increased nine times
over the past three years, this was welcome news for U.S. consumers, which carry
an approximate average of $6,000 in revolving credit card debt per household. Fed
actions also tend to affect mortgage rates, so the pause in rate hikes was also
welcome news to the residential real estate industry.
Information courtesy of CMLS*
